


Patience

by en passant (corinthian)



Series: nothing in particular [6]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-25
Updated: 2015-10-25
Packaged: 2018-04-28 03:00:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5075191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corinthian/pseuds/en%20passant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Time goes on, they've grown up and apart but at least, still, can reconnect.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Patience

**Author's Note:**

> This is _way_ out of time with the rest of the parts of this series and may not even be really, truly, considered "canon" with the rest of the Nothing in Particular fics. But I was feeling the urge today, so this got written.

` Free tonight?`

The text message taunts Jack, sitting on the lock screen of his phone. He hasn’t even slid it open to see if there’s any more — though, he doubts it. For all that Yuusei loves technology, his communications are short and often enigmatic. It just doesn’t occur to him to say more than is necessary. It’s infuriating, but a constant.

Jack’s free. He’s been banned from practice for at least two days after a concussion during the game on Sunday. It looked far worse than it was, he’s decided, after watching not only the tape but the clips of the hit that SportsCenter played in the weekend roundup of games.

Third Quarter Hammer. Atlas Nailed at Goal Line.

He resents it, a little. It was the biggest catch of the game and he made it. (of course he did). But then he was unconscious for the last quarter and they lost. The saying is _Any Given Sunday_ — but Jack likes certainties. He’s a winner, after all.

Which is why Yuusei drives him up the wall, constantly. They’ve been friends — which is an odd way of putting it — for far too long. Jack finds himself a little peeved that his first reaction to Yuusei’s out of the blue text was just to sigh and wonder if he had to rearrange something. It was rare that Yuusei was in town and even more rare that he was available in the evening. Usually that was set aside for working, something else that made Jack want to strangle him. It’s not that Yuusei won’t set aside time for friends, but instead of just not working and hanging out with people, Yuusei hangs out and then works for twelve hours straight and if Yuusei isn’t going to look out for himself than Jack has to.

That’s what he hates, really. They never end up on even ground.

During high school and then even into college, Jack had felt like he was ahead. Yuusei was dawdling, holding himself back purposefully — Yuusei just had seemed unwilling to move forward without some pushing.

But now it’s Jack who feels like he’s constantly being left behind. It was Yuusei who went to graduate school abroad and Yuusei who’s making a big name for himself with inventions and fancy theories and stuff. Jack’s certainly a household name — football player celebrity level and all. But when Jack goes home, no one’s there to greet him. Phone messages are from agents and coaches, sometimes managers and the occasional weird fan. Jack stayed over at Yuusei’s just once — never again, after how messy the place was — and it was cluttered not only with Yuusei’s junk, but traces of everyone in Yuusei’s life. It had made Jack’s own apartment, previously thought of as expensive and yet cozy, seem sterile.

It’s unfair, basically, how Yuusei’s life only has room for Jack in it as a satellite. And how Yuusei’s life means something to everyone he meets. Jack can’t help, especially during the times when Yuusei makes time to visit, feeling envious.

He had mentioned it once to Martha, off-hand, because he didn’t want to worry her. She was getting older and every time he visits home she has more gray hairs and more wrinkles that she insists are laugh lines. Time is relentless. She had said, too, _you’re getting older, maybe you’re looking for something more in your life._ in that way that mean she knew something he didn’t. He had fumed like he had as a child and she had patted his arm, _you’ve always been someone who chases after what you want, but now you’re running out of things to catch. Except maybe the most important one._

But she hadn’t elaborated.

_Free. Call on your way over._ Jack finally replies to Yuusei.

Unsurprisingly, Yuusei doesn’t call on his way over. Jack hadn’t expected him to, but he still scowls when the knock on his door — patent Yuusei, two heavy slams of his fist followed by a more sheepish knock with his knuckles — comes at seven.

Yuusei looks like he came from work, the button down wrinkled and tie hastily looped around his neck. Jack knows there must be a dress code at the lab, or Yuusei would probably wear the same tank top he used to in high school. Despite the crisp line of the shirt collar Jack can see smudges of dirt and grease on Yuusei’s neck, just under his ear and he just barely resists the urge to say something about it.

“You were supposed to call.” Jack grumbles.

“Phone died,” Yuusei shrugs, “Sorry. Left my charger at work.”

“So, then where were you?” Jack steps aside to let him in. Yuusei leaves his shoes at the door, a habit that they all — Yuusei, Crow and Jack — had gotten instilled in them from Martha.

“Someone’s car broke down on the freeway, so I stopped to give them a hand.” Yuusei’s smile is a bit shy. Kiryuu used to roll his eyes and tell him someday one of those strangers was going to be a serial killer. Jack could never understand it, but honestly, he didn’t try either.

“Then wash your hands before you touch anything.” 

“Don’t worry, I won’t get you dirty.” Yuusei says, but there’s a little laughter in his voice and he heads over to the kitchen sink to dutifully scrub the grime off.

“That’s not what I said.”

“You were on the news,” Yuusei stands in the middle of the kitchen, after he finishes washing his hands. He doesn’t quite look awkward, but he doesn’t know where to put his hands, so he keeps wiping them on his pants. Jack should, probably, offer him a seat.

“I didn’t know you bothered with that.”

“The news?”

“You’re pretty busy, aren’t you?” It isn’t meant to be an attack, but Jack can’t keep it from spilling out. He crosses his arms, trying to look less defensive, but feels it may have had the opposite effect.

“Yeah, sorry. I just got back stateside a few days ago. It’s good to be home.”

Jack knows, and regards it almost as a secret, that Yuusei hates traveling. If he could, Yuusei would stay home all of the time, but he’s the one who ends up traveling the most.

“So, stay a while. Unless the world needs saving?” 

“Green energy is the way of the future.” Yuusei sighs, he sounds tired. “We’re using up more resources than we have, you know. And — there’s no reason why people shouldn’t have access to power and clean water, if they want it.”

“Yeah, save it for someone who cares.” Jack waves a hand. They’ve had that conversation before — because Yuusei’s pet projects were always geared towards helping people. Because Yuusei had wanted to go into cardiology, or medicine but ended up not having the head for it at all so instead he went into engineering and material science and now all he does is think up ways to make more efficient engines and cheaper electricity. It’s good work, but it won’t be finished in Yuusei’s lifetime.

Jack’s more concerned about the here and now than the future when they’ll all be dead and gone. Here, now, the immediate future — he only has so many years left of professional play before he’ll have to retire. The concussion last Sunday was small, but he almost tore his ACL the season before. Martha gets older every year. Jack’s still unhappy with his life. And Yuusei’s wondering about what will happen if humanity runs out of gasoline.

“Do you want to go on a ride with me?” Yuusei asks, he almost blurts it out but an easy-going smile has appeared on his face and Jack hates it. “I only brought one bike, but we’ve done that before.”

“Yeah, in high school.” Jack wants to scowl, but instead he finds himself grabbing his jacket and his keys and agreeing — a ride would be fun, for nostalgia, at least.

Yuusei’s bike is still a piece of junk, pretty much literally. It’s larger than the one he had before, but Jack can see the mismatched paint and parts, each one lovingly salvaged and repurposed. There’s enough room for two, though and Yuusei even has an extra helmet.

“Grant money doesn’t cover transportation?” Jack asks, because in the garage is his own car, European, fast and expensive.

“When you build something, you have a different connection to it than when you buy it.” 

They — Yuusei with Jack behind him — drive out of the city. It feels too much like when they were kids and Jack can feel the excitement build in his chest again. He remembers when they did this, so many years ago, and it was one of the most important moments in his life. This time the city is larger and they’re older and Jack is all too aware of how awkward it is to sit behind Yuusei on the bike and how out of control it feels to not know where they’re going. But also how much he trusts Yuusei and how terribly sour that sits in his stomach.

Yuusei pulls over once they’ve driven far enough away that the sounds of the city have faded and there’s only the rough wind through the grass and the road has become uneven and scattered with gravel. They walk the bike, wordlessly, off down a deer path until they come to a spot where the trees have bent over in a recent storm, creating an intimate alcove.

It’s unbelievably childish and like a secret fort that they sit down at the mouth of, almost touching shoulders.

“The road is what ties us together,” Yuusei starts. He’s not looking at Jack as he speaks. “The sidewalk outside my door will eventually connect me to you.” But then he keeps talking. “And to Crow and Kiryuu and Aki and Lua and Luka and everyone else.”

Jack doesn’t even know the last two names and he only vaguely remembers Aki as someone from college that Yuusei got along well with. A girl.

“And?” He demands.

“Do you remember, once you told me something important.”

“Only one time? Were you ever listening at all?”

“That ‘heart’ is the most important part of doing something. That talent and hard work only really matter if your heart is in it.”

Jack, honestly, didn’t remember saying that at all. He might have said something similar — maybe over a skype call on a Sunday morning, or being crammed between Kiryuu and Yuusei on a bus trip, maybe after a football game to try and explain why sports were important. But it sounds too earnest and poetic coming from Yuusei.

“If you follow your heart then you’ll be happy.” Yuusei adds and looks over at Jack with a bit of a crooked smile. That part, they both know, he added on. “I wasn’t very happy, before meeting Crow and then before meeting you.”

“If you were unhappy you should have done something about it instead of waiting for someone else to walk into your life.” Jack grumbles. He’s sure that he’s not flushed, but he’s embarrassed. Rarely does anyone thank him and mean it, not like how Yuusei does.

It’s an odd kind of intensity that only Yuusei seems to have. It isn’t constant and often directed towards a project but when he focuses in on a person, it’s blinding. It always makes Jack feel both special and small at once and leaves him wanting when Yuusei, inevitably, turns to the next project or person.

“You’re not getting it at all.” Yuusei shakes his head. “That’s just like you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“There’s no one like you. You always follow your own path.”

“Of course! I’ve been destined for great things since I was born.” Jack thumps his chest with his fist and raises his head. It’s a gesture he’s grown so used to doing in front of the cameras but it rings false in their intimate clearing.

“I think I’ve been following for too long.” Yuusei looks wistful.

Jack frowns. Something like anger coils up, heavy and anxious in his chest. He remembers when Yuusei and Kiryuu finally had parted ways and Yuusei had said, _You’ve changed my life. We’ll always be connected._ And, he didn’t know if they still talked or if that had been the end of it.

One of the worst parts of life had always been growing up and losing people.

“So? You dragged me all the way out here just to say that?” He keeps his chin defiant and is so sure that his expression is anger. But it feels like something is wrong with the way his eyebrows sit on his face and it’s a stupid thing to think about, to convince Yuusei of his feelings and Jack is just _so sure_ he’s pissed.

“I thought it was nice,” Yuusei laughs and ducks his head. He stays like that, looking at the ground as he continues speaking. “My father. . .he saved lives, but I can’t do anything like that. There’s so much more I could have done.”

“Don’t start on that,” Jack snaps because he’s tired of guilt and if Yuusei just wants to ruminate on people who are no longer alive then he doesn’t have time for it. Not when all signs seem to be pointing to them parting ways as well.

“You inspire people. I saw a kid the other day doing that pose, the — the one.” Yuusei gestures with a hand, faltering for the word.

“Heisman.” Jack supplies. Exasperation, at least, deflates some of his anxiety.

“Yeah, that one. Number one, Jack Atlast and did that.” Yuusei laughs a little. “It means a lot to people, especially back home. It shows that great things can happen. Great people — are from there, too.”

“Great people can come from anywhere,” Jack shifts, so he can get a better look at Yuusei. The years haven’t really changed him, he looks mostly the same — hair still unkempt, expression still closed. Jack can see the teenaged Yuusei easily in his face, except for the thin jagged scar on one cheek, the way his smile comes a little more quickly and it’s true — he’s not as weighed down as he used to be.

Jack would like to be happy for Yuusei, but he’s not that kind of person.

“I got an invitation. There’s a specialist at the IPMS who would like to work with me.”

“And where’s that?”

“Ukraine.” Yuusei shakes his head. “No one seems to believe me when I say I could do the same kind of work at home.”

“Are you going?”

It shouldn’t be that big of a deal. Yuusei hasn’t lived in the same city as Jack for over ten years. They only see each other sporadically and the last time Yuusei was abroad it was in the United Kingdom. 

The fact that he might have been hoping Yuusei would stay, this time, makes Jack clench his fist.

“I can’t not,” Yuusei nods, almost to himself, “It’s a phenomenal opportunity but it’s only a year long contract.”

“Have fun in Ukraine.” Jack snaps.

“When I fly back, I was hoping to fly into the city here.” Yuusei continues then laughs. “Well, unless you’d rather I not.”

“Do what you want,” Jack won’t make any promises, not when he knows how they are. He wants to refuse to wait a year for Yuusei, especially because he’s not being asked to.

“I don’t go for another two weeks.”

“So?”

“Let’s catch up.”

Jack would like to refuse that, too, but the anger in his chest has already started to dissolve. And when Yuusei leans over to kiss him it feels like all the missing pieces have come together. Another year of chasing, then maybe they’ll have something worth staying for.


End file.
